The Young and the Clueless
by Strawberry-Green-Girl
Summary: Being thrust into the world of parenthood is terrifying, but when you're living with two other people who are equally as clueless, it somehow becomes a little easier. Sequel to "Brotherly Love", I recommend you read that first. Twincest, slash, etc. Rated for sexual situations and language.
1. Then and Now

**A/N- And here we are again! Welcome to the fic! This is the sequel to "Brotherly Love", so I suggest reading that first.**

**Warnings: Rated M for sexual situations and language, but this chapter is pretty tame. Twincest, slash, etc. **

**Full Summary (**_**If you want to learn everything on your own, I suggest skipping the summary. It mentions what happened between the end of "Brotherly Love" and now. It's all explained for the most part in this chapter, but if you want to find out as you go, just skip the summary)**_**: **

**It's been a year since George got the news, and now he has a long road ahead of him. Being thrust into the world of parenthood is terrifying, but when you're living with two other people who are equally as clueless, it somehow becomes a little easier. Through trial and error, Kate and George, with the help of Fred, figure out how to be parents without letting go of their rapidly evaporating childhood. They've left school, started up the shop, and have their daughter Michele to take care of; if that doesn't scream adulthood, then what does? It may be a difficult process, but who better to lighten the tension than Fred and George?**

**-oOo-**

Chapter 1: Then and Now

"George, there's not enough Fever Fudge to fill the whole shelf," Kate clucks her tongue in my general direction.

"Then only fill it halfway and slip it with the Puking Pastilles," I respond, not looking up from the quill display I've been working on for nearly an hour. Kate doesn't say anything, and I don't hear any rustling boxes, so I glance at her and see her horrified expression. "Did we not tell you about those?"

"It must have slipped your mind," she says, disgusted. "God, that's gross. Why can't Fred do this, he knows more about this stuff than I do."

"I thought you wanted a break from Michele?"

"I wanted a break _in general_," she sighs, taking some of the boxes off the shelf to make room.

"You're involved in a tricky business now, love. There _are_ no breaks," I say, returning to the display. "Not yet, anyway. We've only just started. There's a lot to be done."

**-oOo-**

"_Harry, we can't take it," I said firmly, crossing my arms. _

"_I don't want it, seriously. Every time I think about it, I remember Cedric. Besides, it's not like I even need it."_

"_Still, mate, that's a lot of money. It wouldn't feel right," Fred added._

"_Seriously, I am_ asking _you to take it. I know how much you want to set up that joke shop, and the 1000 galleons is plenty to cover it. I'm serious, please take it."_

**-oOo-**

I can hear Michele crying upstairs. None of us knows why; she's clean, she's fed, and she had a nap an hour ago.

"Are they in the back?" Kate asks.

"Yeah, boxed up with the Fancies," I reply. Merlin, this display is killing me. I thought quills would be easy to do a display for; they're _quills_, and there are only three kinds. But what order should they go in? Self-inking, spell-check, then smart answer? Or should they be mixed together? No, that would be too confusing. Should they go in tiers? Rows? I'm a terrible decorator. I'll finish it later.

"I can't find them!" Kate calls from the back room.

"Here, I'll do it." I say, coming up behind her. "You go upstairs and send Fred down before he loses his mind."

"No, that's alright, I've got it. The least I can do is help you stock, I mean, I _am_ living here. Got to do my part, right?"

**-oOo-**

"_What do you mean you kicked her out?" I gaped, wide-eyed at Kate's father, who was manning the counter of his shop._

"_I mean, 'I. Kicked. Her. Out. Tol' her she either had to get rid of it or get out, and the little slag left," he sneered. "Good riddance anyway. Prob'ly freeloadin' at that Carey girl's house."_

_Fred and I booked it out and began circling the village for anyone who knew who Carey was. We eventually knocked into her ourselves. _

"_Why do you wanna know where Kate is?" Carey asked suspiciously. "Are you the bloke who knocked her up?"_

"_Just tell me where she is."_

"_Who's that?"_

"_My brother."_

"_She's at my house. You better not upset her."_

"_I won't, just take me to her."_

**-oOo-**

"You make it sound like giving birth," I chuckle.

"Ha bloody ha," he says as she pulls the box off the shelf.

"You're not helping out because you live here, you're helping out because without you, we'd still be unpacking boxes," I smirk, playfully shoving her. She almost drops the box as she stumbles into the showroom. I'm rewarded with a rude hand gesture.

"Why are we doing this by hand anyway?" she asks. "You wouldn't need my help if you'd just wave your wand and make everything arrange itself, like in Cinderella."

"First of all, I have no idea what that is," I frown. "Second of all, this is a momentous occasion. Doing it by hand just feels… right," I state.

"Whatever," Kate scoffs. "The sooner you get some actual employees, the better," she raises an eyebrow and opens the box. She kneels down and begins restacking the empty half of the shelf with Puking Pastilles, looking only moderately disgusted.

I grin. "I've got an interview set up for tomorrow with someone."

"Who would that be?"

"A witch named Verity," I reply.

"Ugh, I honestly don't think I'll ever get used to that; referring to people as witches and wizards," Kate grimaces.

"Ah, you'll get used to it."

"Says you, Mr. Magic Pants." I don't question the name. "You've been doing this magic thing for your whole life. I've only just been introduced to a world I previously thought only existed in fairytales and films."

**-oOo-**

"_I'm sorry, that _what _world?" Kate asked, expression confused and disbelieving. _

"_I know it sounds mad, but it's real, and it's the only way I can be a part of our child's life."_

"_You must be joking. Magic is not real; I already told you I don't believe in all that."_

"_It's real, trust us," Fred chimed in, visibly frustrated. "Everything will be a hell of a lot better with us. It doesn't look like you'll be missing much here anyway."_

"_Excuse me?" Kate screeched. Damn those pregnancy hormones. _

"_What he means," I glared at Fred, "is that we just met your father, and he is obviously not supportive. I think I can provide for you when he clearly can't."_

"_I have Carey," she gestured to the house behind her, where Carey was residing. "You are seventeen, just like me. You can't provide for me any better than I can for myself. I'm lucky Carey's family let me move in with them. And it sounds to me like you're losing it."_

"_Kate, please, you have to trust me."_

"_No, I don't. This was all a massive fuck up. Stay away from me."_

**-oOo-**

It's a good thing Fred and I are so good at charms, because we had to erase the memories of Carey's whole family after Fred set their lawn on fire to prove things to Kate. Unfortunately, that route couldn't be taken when he got a letter from the Ministry requiring us to attend a trial for performing magic in front of a Muggle. Luckily, Muggle family members are allowed to know about the Wizarding world, and after explaining the situation, we got permission for Kate to live with us. It took a lot more convincing on her end, but after six days, a lot of paperwork, and something like an Unbreakable Vow, Kate was moving in.

"Obviously you were never taught to keep an open mind," I tease.

"This requires a bit more than an open mind," Kate cocks an eyebrow. True enough.

"I'm gonna send Fred down and I'll take over. Direct all complaints to him!" I say as I disappear upstairs.

I was right in thinking Fred would be at his wit's end with Michele. He's been unbelievably helpful by sharing the responsibility even though he doesn't have to, and he gets stressed with her long before I do. As I clomp up the stairs to the flat, I can hear his audible sighs and Michele's whining. He's sitting on the kitchen counter with her on his lap, looking thoroughly defeated. When he sees me, his eyes light up and he slides off the counter.

"Are you here to free me?" he asks hopefully. "Because I'm just about out of my skull right now."

"Yeah, give her here," I hold out my hands, and he hands over Michele. "Have you fed her?"

"I tried, but she refused to eat! What kind of Weasley is she?" Fred throws his hands in the air.

"She's not a full Weasley," I remind him. "She's got a lot of Baulderston in her too. Mostly Kate, as far as I know," I add, thinking of her father.

It's true, how much of Kate is in Michele. She's only almost four months old, but she's got black hair already. She's got Kate's green eyes and skin (a little tanner than mine), and every time she laughs, it sounds like a baby Kate. My recessive traits obviously could not pull through.

"Can you go down and help Kate with shelving?" I ask, shifting Michele in my arms.

"Gladly."

I want to go back down and continue setting up as well, because Fred and I want to have the shop up and running as soon as possible, but I can't leave Michele alone upstairs, and there's no way I'm letting her near the potentially dangerous stuff we have downstairs. The 1000 galleons Harry gave us was enough for first and last month's rent of the shop and flat, and to get us going with making products, minor fix-ups, and the basics needed for running a business, but we need to get the ball rolling if we have any hope of keeping everything running. Then we have Michele on top of it all. Sometimes I wonder if maybe Fred and I made a mistake leaving school so soon. Maybe we did, but it's all a part of the learning experience, right?

I seat Michele in her highchair (transfiguration came in handy with most of the childcare furniture and toys) and retrieve the pumpkin puree Fred had been trying to feed her.

"Come on, Michele… It'll be a lot easier on the both of us if you just eat for me, okay?" I try to coax her into opening her mouth, but if nothing else, she has that Weasley stubbornness. "I'm begging you, please, just eat. I'm just as new at this as you are."

We're all new at it. Merlin, we almost didn't even get Kate to the hospital when she went into labor.

**-oOo-**

"_What do you mean there isn't a hospital around here?" Kate screamed as I tried to hold her up. _

"_I'm sorry! I didn't map this place out, don't get mad at me!"_

"_We have to apperate, George, now."_

"_No! We have to take her to a _Muggle _hospital, so if she gets splinched, there's nothing we can do, there'll be too many people, not to mention we could kill the baby!"_

"_What the fuck are you two talking about? Just get me to the fucking hospital." She was hysterical. _

"_Okay, close your eyes, hold your breath, and concentrate on the alley behind your dad's shop."_

"_Fred, we can't-"_

"_Shut up and focus!"_

"_One, two, three!"_

"_Okay, which way is the hospital?"_

"_Bloody hell, Kate, I told you to hold your breath!"_

**-oOo-**

Oddly enough, we've somehow managed to keep this away from Mum and Dad. We moved out as soon as we left school, much to Mum's displeasure, so she doesn't know about Kate at all, or the trial, or even Michele. I know we have to break it to them soon, but I just want to have the shop up and running first, so I can prove that we can take care of them both. I can see Mum being torn between anger and disappointment at the situation, and being thrilled about her first grandchild. There's no telling with Dad.

Then of course I'll have to explain why I don't plan on getting married to Kate, which will lead to me having to out myself to them, but I'll cross that bridge when I get there. I haven't come up with a good excuse for why I got a girl pregnant even though I'm gay that they'll actually understand and doesn't out Fred. Oh, what a mess my life is.

"Michele, if you never do me another favor, at least do this one and _eat_," I beg her, waving the spoon in front of her face. I sigh, defeated, and put it down. Maybe Hermione was right when she said we shouldn't try spoon feeding her yet. Kate didn't seem eager to breastfeed for another month, though. "You stay here," I say to Michele. She makes no attempt to move.

"Okay, she refuses to eat," I say as I clomp down the stairs. Kate and Fred are now stocking invisibility hats. "Kate, you need to feed her."

"But my nipples hurt!" She whines, pouting. I really did not need to hear that.

"Come on, where's that maternal instinct to bear through the pain to ensure your daughter doesn't starve?" Fred prods at her with a hat.

"Why don't you do it then?" she huffs.

"I don't think it works that way."

"You're a wizard, poof yourself a pair of-"

"Again, it doesn't work that way," I cut in. "And even if it did, I don't have a spell for that."

"Shame." She sets down the hat in her hands and heads up to Michele. "Don't come up unless you want to see tits!"

Oh, Kate is something else. She seemed so sweet and nice when I met her, and now she seems to have come out of that shell. I had originally chalked her change in behavior up to pregnancy hormones, but after she gave birth, and didn't change, I figured she'd just been making a good impression when I first met her in the village; she says stuff like that all the time, and she's got a wicked temper. During the six months she's lived with us, she's slowly gotten used to us and let her true colors shine, and I'm not lying when I say I've never met anyone like her. Likely because she's a Muggle, but also because she's pretty blatant about everything. I don't think she's got a filter between her brain and her mouth, and most of the time I find it quite funny, but other times it's a bit too much information. I just know Michele is going to have her wit, and she'll be taking a lot of visits to Dumbledore's office.

Actually, we have no idea if Michele is going to have any magic or not. It's a 50/50 shot, really. Everyone in her family is a Muggle, and everyone in my family is a wizard. We'll just have to keep a close eye on her as she gets older.

"Right, so we just have to finish stocking, get our order forms together, pretty up the displays, and we'll be ready to open up," Fred says, coming to stand next to me. His hands are on his hips and he's looking around the shop satisfactorily. "Can you believe we finally have our own joke shop?" he grins.

"I know, it's incredible," I nod, still a bit awestruck at the reality of it. It's finally happening. A bit different from the original plan, sure, but happening nonetheless. Before the week is over, we will be in business; we'll be pulling pranks for a living. There won't be anyone to give us detention or tell us what we can and can't do. Freedom is sweet, and we intend to take full advantage of it.

Look out, Zonko's; The Weasley's are about to take over.

**-oOo-**

**A/N- There we have it! The sequel to Brotherly Love has officially begun! Leave me a review telling me what you think! **

**Thank you so much for all the support that led to this sequel! **


	2. Open For Business

**A/N- I'm glad everyone liked the first chapter! Here we are with the second one!**

**-oOo-**

Chapter 2: Open For Business

It was a somewhat painful process, but through hard work and lack of sleep, we've managed to get the shop ready to open. The shelves are fully stocked, the back room is filled with all the extras, the order forms are stuck up on the wall, and there's a general ambiance of playfulness.

We put up a big "now open" sign above the door, and stuck a few flyers around to spread the word. I expect it won't be booming in the beginning, but once the word gets around, we'll have all the kids (and childish adults) filling us up. It's an exciting thought, to be honest; filling the world with immaturity and potential danger, one prank at a time. That should be our slogan.

"We should cut a ribbon or something, make it official," Kate comments, holding Michele in her arms.

"It's not official by just existing?" I inquire, eyebrows raised. She and I are standing in front of the double doors, which are closed, waiting to be opened to the public for the first time.

"You know what I mean! As a sort of… you know…" she twirls a hand through the air, searching for the right word. "Ceremonial thing," she says finally. I ponder the barren door, contemplating her proposal, but Fred is already ahead of me. He raises his wand and with a flick, a gold streamer comes out and fixes itself across the door.

"You can do the honors," he gestures to me.

"Hey, it was my idea!" Kate protests. I roll my eyes.

"Good luck finding anything to cut it with," I smirk.

"Don't you have any scissors?"

"No, my wand performs scissors' duties when scissors are not present."

"What?"

I flick my wand lazily, thinking _Diffindo_, and the streamer falls to the ground, severed in two. Kate huffs and goes to lean against the front counter with Michele.

"You can use that magic to cut it, but not to conjure up some scissors?"

"With that spell, we don't _need_ scissors," Fred says ia mocking voice. "You would make a terrible witch," he add.

"And you would make a terrible Muggle," she fires back.

"Come now, children. Not in front of the baby," I interject, placing my hand on the glass of the door. "Are we ready to open up?"

"Yes!" Fred claps his hands together, grinning.

"Alright, here we go. One… two… three!" I push the door open, and put a stationary charm on it to keep it from closing. It's a Saturday, so there's a fair few people out, but few people our age. I think the adults are the ones who need our products the most, though, as a way to spice up boring work days. And some of them just need to get a sense of humor.

I was quite right when I said it would be slow; two hours have passed and literally no one has come in. I'm not discouraged though, seeing as we're the new business. We've got to give people time to figure us out. A majority of our expected sales will be coming from the Hogwarts students anyway, and they're in school. The winter holidays are still a few days away, so to be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if no one comes in until then. Well, I take that back. I wouldn't be surprised if no one _buys_ anything until then. I correct myself because someone is walking in right now.

"Hello!" I greet the young-looking wizard as he enters. He can't be older than 20; another target age group.

"You are our first potential customer ever," Fred adds. "Good on you, mate."

The man chuckles. "Thanks. I'm glad there's a joke place closer than Diagon Alley now," he says, looking around. "Are you like Zonko's?"

"Not at all," I grin. "Everything you see in here, you won't see in any other joke shop, because my brother and I invented everything you're looking at."

"I'm his brother," Fred chimes in.

"Hush, you," I wink, and return to the man. "Well, other than near the back, which are Muggle magic tricks. Mostly for enthusiasts like our Dad."

"Did you really make all this?" he asks incredulously, and peers at the nearest shelf, which contains the Skiving Snackboxes. "That's brilliant!"

"Yeah, we like to think so," I say happily.

"They like to say so, as well," Kate shouts from upstairs. The man stiffens in surprise.

"Ahh, here, I'll let Fred show you around, and while he's doing that, I'm going to go tell our flatmate that yelling from upstairs while there's a person here is really creepy," I say, and gesture to Fred.

I take the stairs two at a time and walk through the open door.

"Why's the door open?"

"So I could listen in on your first visitor," Kate smiles. It's at this moment that I realize she's feeding Michele. I spin around, embarrassed. "Oh, come off it, it's not like you haven't seen 'em before," she states.

"Yeah, I know, I know. Doesn't mean I _want_ to," I grimace. "Anyway, would you mind not shouting from up here? If you want to make fun, do it where people can see you." That sounds a bit odd.

"It's no fun if they can see me," Kate protests.

"I know, but it's… _unprofessional_, for want of a better word," I wince.

"Don't you dare," Kate laughs. "You two are the most unprofessional people I know."

"I don't mean unprofessional like silly, I mean unprofessional like no one needs to know we live up here," I say. "That and the fact that a disembodied voice floating from up here is a bit weird," I add.

"Right, yeah, sorry," Kate says with a chuckle. "Not much to do up here though, you know?"

I ponder her words for a moment. "You should meet a friend of mine," I say. "She'll be out of school for the holidays in a few days."

"Company would be lovely, with my working men being so busy all the time."

"Right, so, I'm going to go back down now," I say awkwardly, still not facing her.

"Have fun."

I head back down to find Fred talking about the trick wands.

"They turn into pretty much anything," he says. "Old springs, chocolate… We even have a few that turn into shrubs," he grins.

"That is brilliant. Just brilliant." I get the feeling that this guy is easily impressed, which is good for any businessman, because if you can easily impress a person, you can persuade them to buy as well. "My nephew's birthday is next week, he'll be 15. He loves this kind of stuff, gets it from me I expect," he says proudly.

"Well good thing you came 'round here, then," I smile. "See anything you like?" I ask.

"Yeah, those wands are perfect. And I might get one of those nose-biting teacups for my sister, just because she needs a good bite on the nose," he says.

"We'll take your word for it," I chuckle. "So, are you going to prove me wrong and buy something before the holidays?" I ask, gesturing to the brand new register, grinning in a somewhat creepy fashion.

"Yeah, I think I will," the guy grins along with me.

"Brilliant! Grab what you want, and I'll ring you up," I say as I slide behind the counter. First day, first customer, first sale. Good start, if I do say so myself.

The wizard grabs a trick wand from one of the bins (it turns into a pair of sunglasses), a nose-biting tea cup, and Candy in a Can ("this product contains candy"). The total came to a galleon and three knuts.

"Tell your friends," I say as he turns to leave.

"And your family, and the strangers on the street. Order forms are by the door," Fred adds. The man promises to spread the word and says goodbye. I wait until he's out of sight before running around to the other side of the counter to hug Fred.

"First sale!" I say as I grip his shoulders. He presses a quick kiss to my lips before giving me a high-five.

"This is going to be brilliant. I can feel it," he tells me, then spins around to start pacing. "Mum didn't want us to do it. She probably still doesn't, but look at us! The shop is open, and we just mad our first sale. This is us; this is where we belong," he says excitedly. "Not in school."

"I couldn't agree more, Freddie," I concur, and lean against the counter.

"Can I come down?" Kate calls from upstairs.

"As long as you're not _exposed_," I yell back.

"Oh, of course, I wouldn't want to burn your eyes out or anything with my womanly figure." The sarcasm is dripping from her voice.

"How considerate," Fred cocks an eyebrow.

"I've got a question," Kate announces. "Now that your shop is up and you'll both have to be down here, who's going to watch Michele when I'm at school? I mean, I know the holidays are next week, but after that, what do I do?"

That… is actually a good question. Neither Fred nor I have thought about this.

"Are there any day cares around here or anything?" she inquires.

"Not that we know of," Fred shrugs. "We probably should have thought of that, eh?"

"No, Kate and I should have thought of that, you have nothing to do with it," I assure Fred.

"Perhaps we could hire someone?" Kate suggests.

"We _could_, but who?" I ask. "All of our friends are in school, and we don't really know anyone else."

"We couldn't ask your family?"

"Kate, you know I haven't even told my family about this," I wince.

"I know, but thy have to find out sooner or later, don't they?"

"Later would be preferable to sooner," Fred says. "That way when we finally do tell them, we'll be able to show that we were still successful and able to handle everything."

"I hear you, but this is sort of important," Kate presses her lips together.

"I know," I say. "We'll figure it out. But we're good for right now," I smile encouragingly.

"Isn't Verity coming in tomorrow?" Fred asks.

"Yes."

"Right, well, once she's acquainted with all the merchandise, which she should be by the time the holidays are over, you and I can alternate watching Michele, since there'll always be two of us down here," he offers. "Problem solved."

I look at Michele, grinning. "There we go. See? It's all fine," I say happily.

"I sure hope so. I don't want to end up being _that_ parent," Kate clucks her tongue.

"What parent?" I ask.

"The parent who thinks she's doing everything right, when in reality, she's doing everything painfully wrong," she answers. "That goes for both of us."

"You won't be that parent, and neither will I. Promise," I smile reassuringly.

"Right. Well can either of you watch her this Monday through Wednesday? Those are my last days of school before the holiday."

"Yeah, we've got it," Fred says. "Not a problem."

"Thanks," Kate smiles. "Looks like you've got some more people coming in. I'll go back upstairs so you can be professional," she teases.

Sure enough, there are three people walking in; a father, and his two young sons. We say hello when they walk in, and offer to show them around. The kids were all about the sweets, but we had to repeatedly explain that they would make them sick, turn them into canaries, or swell their tongues to a rather uncomfortable size. In the end, the father ended up buying them each a trick wand. It's one of the few things that are actually safe for small children.

As the day went on, several more people stopped in, but no one bought anything. They were all either window shopping, or planning their Christmas shopping, which was fine by us. Two of them took order forms from the cubby next to the door.

When eight o'clock rolled around, we locked up and had a victory snog. Once the lights were off, we headed upstairs.

"Closing time, then?" Kate asked when we appeared through the doorway. She was lounging on the sofa watching something or other on the small telly she bought from a second-hand shop with the little money she'd made working for her dad.

"It would appear so," I say, as I fill a glass with water.

"Good first day?"

"Excellent first day," Fred claps his hands and shoves Kate over so he can join her on the couch.

"Are you rich yet?" she asks sarcastically, crossing her legs, and punching Fred in the arm. ("Ouch!")

"Not yet, sorry. Are you only here for the money?" I tease.

"No, I'm here because you practically kidnapped me," she shoots at me with a grin.

"Ah, that's right."

She throws her shoe at me, narrowly missing, and it lands in the sink. I'll let her get that.

I sit on her other side and we settle in. Things are looking pretty good.

**-oOo-**

**A/N- Sorry this took so long! School is keeping me rather busy. **

**Review! :D**


	3. The Meeting of the Ladies

**A/N- And here we are with chapter three. I KNOW IT'S SUPER LATE! PLEASE DON'T HATE ME! ASDFGHJKL College is keeping me busier than I ever expected. BUT I have decided that in order to make it up to you, I shall give you… *drum roll*… The very first explicit smutty scene! Please bear in mind though, that I have only written one rated M fic before this, so I am not an experienced smut writer. That in mind, PLEASE tell me how I do XD**

**-oOo-**

Chapter 3:

"Right, so, two new people today," I say excitedly. "Well, new to you, anyway," I say to Kate. She cocks an eyebrow. "Hermione will be here soon, and she'll be with you up here while we're downstairs. Then later, you'll meet Verity."

"Verity's the one you're hiring right?" Kate asks.

"Technically we've already hired her, but yes," Fred smiles.

"Right. So then, tell me about Hermione," Kate sits on the sofa and crosses her legs.

"You'll like her," I say reassuringly. "Well, I hope you will. Some people find her a bit annoying. And by some, I mean a lot." I can see I'm not really selling Hermione's winning personality (I say that with only a little sarcasm…), so I say, "Once you get past the scholar in her, she's brilliant."

"So she's a brainiac then?"

"Brainiac, bookworm, goody-two-shoes, you name it," Fred chimes in. "She comes off as a bit of a know-it-all, and once you get to know her, you realize she _is_ a know-it-all."

"In a good way," I defend. "Most of the time. Some of the time… Her heart's in the right place, just give her a chance."

"You sure choose unique friends," Kate comments, chuckling. "You've got the know-it-all, the death-retardant celebrity, and the Muggle."

"Well we had to get them before someone else did," playfully punch her arm, and she punches back.

"Well aren't you-" A knock interrupts whatever Kate was about to say.

Kate looks toward the door that leads down to the shop. "How did anyone get in?" she asks suspiciously.

"Wrong door, Kate," Fred musses her hair, and heads to the back door (if it can even be called that). We have two entrances to the flat; one through the shop, obviously, and another that you have to go to the back of the shop to get to. There's another set of stairs outside that lead up to it. That's the one we told Hermione to use, since obviously, the shop door are locked.

Fred opens the door to reveal our favorite little know-it-all.

"Hermione!" I sweep her into a purposely too-tight hug, lifting her off the floor. "I missed you!"

"I missed you too, George," she giggles. Once I set her down, she offers a hug to Fred, who accepts not-so-graciously, and actually grabs her bridal-style, kicking the door shut. "Fred!" she all but screams, eyes wide with surprise.

"What? Am I not allowed to have missed you?" he questions. Hermione looks torn between laughter and terror.

"Yes, okay! I missed you as well, now put me down!" she finally giggles, trying to wiggle out of his grip. Fred sets her down, and she attempts to smooth down her hair and blouse. As she turns around she sees Kate sitting awkwardly on the sofa. "Oh! I'm so sorry! You must beKate!"

"Yes indeed! Kate, this is Hermione," I gesture to Hermione.

"The know-it-all?" Kate smirks.

Hermione glares at me. "Did you really?"

"Don't look at me, Fred's the one who made it sound like a bad thing," I raise my hands in defense. "I said you're brilliant."

"I'm almost tempted to believe you," Hermione replied with a head-shake and a smile. "Anyway, I haven't properly introduced myself. I'm Hermione Granger," she holds her hand out to Kate happily.

"Kate Baulderston," Kate shakes her hand appreciatively.

"I've heard a lot about you Kate," Hermione smiles. Merlin, she sounds like Mum.

"I'd hope it was nothing bad, but looking at the circumstances…"

"It was nothing bad," I scoff.

"Forgive me if I don't believe you, 'Fred'," she cocks and eyebrow. I try not to look offended. She winks at me. I'm suddenly less offended. But still offended.

As far as I remember, I've never said a bad word about Kate to anyone. Well, I've only told two people she even exists, but I never said anything bad to them. I've never given her a reason not to trust me. I haven't even lied to her. Well, except for the name. And pretending to be straight. And neglecting to mention that I'm in a serious relationship with my twin, even though we are all now living together, and if I don't tell her soon, she'll likely end up hearing it through the walls. Other than that though, I mean blimey.

"He never spoke a word against you," Hermione confirms. You tell her, 'Mione.

"I'm more inclined to take your word for it," Kate chuckles. I throw my hands in the air and collapse onto the sofa.

"Come on, Georgie," Fred strides across the room and pats me on the shoulder. "Let's leave the women to their gossip. They can't say bad things about us if we're in the room." He grasps my hand, and pulls me up.

"It's true," Kate shrugs. Hermione laughs. I feel like she's either really going to enjoy Kate's sass –seeing as she's developed a bit of a sassy attitude herself- or really hate it. It's hard to tell just yet.

I follow Fred to the door and give them one last parting glance. "Don't burn the place down," I shoot them a sarcastic glare.

"Said the pot to the kettle," Hermione shoo's us away.

Half-way down the stairs, I pull Fred into a quick kiss; the first of the day, and likely the last until Kate is asleep.

"You know we have to let her know at some point," Fred murmurs as he unlocks the doors.

"Yeah, I know."

"Maybe tonight isn't a bad time, what with Hermione being here and all," he suggests as he stows the keys in his pocket. "She can talk her down if she freaks out or anything."

"_When_ she freaks out" I correct him grimly. He doesn't protest. "Does that mean meeting Verity will have to wait?"

"Well yeah," Fred shrugs. "No point in introducing her if she's just gonna leave."

He says it so bluntly that I'm a bit taken aback, but I know he's right. This only makes me not want to tell Kate anything. I love her to death, but something tells me she'd be the type to walk out. Well, after she got done looking at us funny and not finishing sentences like "But I don't-" and "Why would you-".

"Maybe we shouldn't tell her, then," I grimace.

"The longer we wait, the worse it will be," Fred bites his lip. "I'm not gonna go behind your back and tell her, or anything, but I just think the sooner we do, the better."

"Yeah, I know," I say.

"Okay." And that's that.

The past few days in the shop have been slow, but it hasn't gotten me down. Today is the first day of the winter holidays, so there should be at least _some_ students home by now. Though, I don't expect them to be up at ten in the morning. I wouldn't be.

**-oOo-**

We told Verity she could come in the afternoon, since we assumed it wouldn't be too terribly busy today, but I'm starting to wish we'd told her to come earlier; it's half twelve and there are more people out and about than we anticipated. The shop is flooded with students of all ages, and the accompanying adults of the younger ones. Still an hour until Verity is to show up.

Fred is handling the money, while I man the floor. I'm starting to get irritated by all the people asking for Zonko's products, but like a true salesman, I offer something better. Who needs Fanged Frisbee's when you can have a Punching Telescope? Just as destructive, and guaranteed to work; Hermione can vouch for us.

Turns out word got around fast at school, because there have been at least fifteen different kids asking for something they saw at Hogwarts, including the portable swamp. The unintentional business is like an early Christmas gift to ourselves.

"George!" I pause in my description of the Wildfire Whiz-Bangs to turn to my shouting brother. "Can you get Kate down here? We need someone and Verity won't be here soon enough." I nod and finish up quickly before heading back upstairs.

Kate is making tea when I open the door,

"Kate, we need you downstairs for a bit," I say hurriedly. "Just until Verity gets here." If it slows down a bit later, we may actually get to introduce them right when Verity arrives and get that out of the way. Kate groans dramatically, but sets her mug down.

"Who's going to watch Michele?" she asks.

"Shit," I swear and look to Hermione.

"You don't even have to ask," she says sweetly. "Do what you have to do."

"You're a lifesaver, 'Mione," I grin. "You too, Kate," I add after she loudly clears her throat.

With Kate helping out, things are going more smoothly. She's helping on the floor, and restocking where needed. I want to actually hire her, but she has Michele to watch, which kind of gets in the way.

Merlin, a lot of things would be so much easier if I hadn't gone and messed up. We'd be living alone, not having to worry about telling anyone anything about us, we wouldn't have to be taking care of an infant, there would be a hell of a lot less stress… I love Michele so much; she's bloody daughter, after all, but as wrong as it sounds, it's hard to be happy when half of you really isn't. It sounds bad, I know. But what's done is done, right? Nothing to be done about it now. Keep calm and carry on.

The next hour drags by in slow motion while everything around us racing, but when Verity's head pops up in the crowd, relief courses through my body.

"Verity!" I exclaim. "So happy to see you. How's this for a first day, eh?"

Verity smiles. "Good afternoon, Mr. Weasley."

"You've already met Fred, but this here is Kate," I gesture to Kate, who is dragging a box of Whiz-Bangs out of the back. She looks up.

"Hello. I'm Kate," she nods at Verity to avoid taking her hands off the box.

"Pleasure to meet you. Are you working as well?" Verity asks politely.

"No, God no. I'm just, er… volunteering, I suppose," Kate chuckles. Verity just nods.

"Anyway, you can get your robe out of the back and, well, get right to it. We're busier than we expected," I smile.

"Of course, Mr. Weasley."

She's a polite one.

"Kate, thank you so much," I say as I take the box from her. "I really appreciate it. You can head back up now."

"Thank God. She's an odd one isn't she?" she mentions as she straightens up. "'Yes Mr. Weasley, of course Mr. Weasley, anything you ask Mr. Weasley'."

"Hush, you, I like her; she has manners, unlike someone I know," I tease.

"I don't know who you're talking about," Kate scoffs. She flashes a grin, and strides away.

When Verity comes out again, I tell her she can see what needs to be restocked and fix that up. When we decided to hire her, we had her come in before the shop opened so she could familiarize herself with the merchandise. An excellent decision, since it looks like any on-the-job training would be impossible.

Things start to die down around three and we all finally have time to breathe. It's been non-stop 'let me get that' and 'let me show you how this works' all day, and it's nice to be able to lean against the counter and do _nothing_ for a moment.

"How's this for a first day, Verity?" I chuckle.

"Hectic," she smiles. "More so than expected. But I suppose that's a good thing; start hard, so that the rest seems easy."

"Excellent philosophy," Fred nods, impressed, and Verity offers a small smile in return. "Sounds like something Hermione would say." Verity doesn't reply, probably because she doesn't know who Hermione is.

"Busyness aside, do you like it here?" I ask. "No overwhelming urges to quit?"

"I adore it, Mr. and Mr. Weasley," she tells us.

"Please, call us Fred and George, you're making us feel old," Fred laughs. "That's good though, that you like it. We worked hard to get it up and running."

"Well you've done a fantastic job," Verity nods. We thank her, and she disappears into the back, saying something about putting out more fake wands.

Things slow almost to a halt around five, so we decide to close up for the day. We thank Verity for her hard work, and let her go home.

I begin counting out the register while Fred straightens the shelves and locks the doors. I'm horrible at doing math in my head, so I write on a scrap piece of parchment as I count. Finally I arrive at our total earned for the day: 103 galleons, 47 sickles, and 55 knuts, which is fantastic, seeing as we're still in the first week of business. Fred grins when I tell him, and pulls me into a hug.

"Finally making money," he says happily. "I say this deserves a celebration," he says in a low voice, making sure his words don't drift upstairs.

"I'm guessing you don't mean going out for a drink, do you?" I grin, and place a kiss on his lips.

"Nope. I'm talking about a _private_ celebration," he bites his tongue and flashes me a toothy grin.

"That sounds good to me."

We move quickly up the stairs and into the flat. Hermione is holding Michele, and smiles at us when we enter.

"Busy day?" she asks.

"Very busy," Fred and I reply in unison.

"And if we're lucky, it'll stay busy," I add hopefully, and hold my arms out to Hermione so I can take Michele. She hands her over carefully.

"You know, I'm very proud of you both," Hermione smiles fondly. "You've taken your immaturity and childishness, and turned it into a business."

"Ouch, backhanded compliment," I wince dramatically, but smile along with her.

"I'm kidding," she rolls her eyes, still smiling. "Honestly, though. It's rather amazing."

"Amazing things come from amazing people," Fred points out, beaming.

"Modest people, too," Kate chimes in with a snort.

I rock Michele gently in my arms while Fred continues to declare just how fantastic we are, while Hermione listens in amusement, and Kate scoffs and shakes her head.

Soon enough, though, Hermione announces that "it's about time I get back, my parents are waiting for me." After a parting hug from each of us, Fred shows her out, and I promise to owl her.

**-oOo-**

Kate is a bit of a night owl. She likes to stay up late, even when she had school the next day, and sometimes doesn't sleep at all. She's definitely a caffeine addict; she's always drinking tea and coffee and forcing us to remind her how to get to Muggle London so she can stock up on 'soda' or whatever. I can't tell if she drinks so much caffeine because she hardly sleeps, or if she hardly sleeps because she drinks so much caffeine. Either way, it's annoying when it's one in the morning, and she's showing no signs of going to bed.

Michele was put to bed hours ago, and I sort of hoped Kate would go to bed too, but I knew she wouldn't. Fred and I _could_ just go to our respective rooms and wait, but we have no way of knowing when Kate will actually go to bed, and one of us could fall asleep by then. We can't just disappear into the same room and shut the door, because that would appear a little strange, especially at this hour. It's now that I'm finding the number of bedrooms annoying. There are three, and before Kate moved in, we'd planned on just sharing one, since we'd end up together in one anyway, but with Kate, we _have_ to have separate rooms, so we don't have the 'sharing a room' excuse. We even offered to turn the third room into a makeshift nursery for Michele, but Kate wouldn't have it. She insisted that Fred and I have our own rooms since it's our flat, so she shares a room with Michele.

Kate's been absently flipping through shows on the telly for ten minutes, and finally, she gives up.

"There's nothing good on," she complains, and passes the… the… what's it called? Remote? Channel changer? Kate calls it both, with zero consistency. It's not like I know what to do with it, so I put it on the end table. "I'm gonna crash. Goodnight, good sirs." She salutes us, and shuffles to her bedroom. Merlin, took her long enough. As soon as she's in her room, Fred and I leap off the couch and go into 'my' room, the one closest to the living room. I shut the door and lean against it, grinning and pressing a finger to my lips, reminding Fred that we need to be quiet. I'm very wary about casting _Muffliato_, because I think Kate would become very concerned if she heard incessant buzzing in her ears, and we've yet to find a spell that will effectively soundproof an area. So we just have to be _very quiet._

Unfortunately, Fred is rather awful at being quiet. He's always making some kind of noise, even if we're just snogging, and while it's sometimes a bit thrilling to be on the verge of getting caught (you know, when it's not nauseating), it's also very not good. We've already almost been caught twice; once when Kate thought I'd hurt myself because Fred wouldn't _shut up_, and another time when he rammed into me so hard the bedframe hit the wall, and Kate knocked on my door asking if I was alright. So silence isn't his forte.

I lock the door with _Colloportus_ and move toward Fred with a predatory grin. He just watches me approach him, ready to pounce.

I grab him by the vest and pull him flush against me, slotting my lips eagerly against his. He gives an appreciative hum and threads his hand through my hair, pulling lightly. I shove him toward the bed, never breaking the kiss, while I force the vest off his shoulders and set to work on the buttons of his shirt. Three buttons down, I just force it open. I can fix the buttons later.

I break the kiss long enough to shed my shirt before pushing Fred until he no choice but to sit on the edge of the bed. He scoots backward and I straddle his lap, grinding down just hard enough to tease him with friction. He bucks up, but I lift off of him, grinning against his mouth.

"Come on, don't be a tease," he groans. He latches his hands to my hips and pulls me down so he can properly grind against me. Alright fine, no teasing then. My hands are clasped to Fred's biceps as we rock together, breathing heavily. Fred lets a moan slip and I shush him. Well, I try to; I'm a bit out of breath and all I can really manage is a sharp exhale, which is not taken as it was intended to be taken.

"Shut up," I whisper breathlessly.

"Sorry."

I slide off his lap and crawl all the way onto the bed, smoothing out the rumpled duvet. I motion for Fred to come closer and I lean back against the headboard. I make quick work of my trousers, because I'm painfully hard and _Merlin_ that's a lot better. Fred seems to have easily caught my drift, and he moves quickly to kneel between my legs. He slides his index fingers under the waistband of my pants and slides them down slowly, a devilish grin playing at his shiny lips. I lift my hips up off the bed to make is easier, and in one swift motion, they're off, which I wasn't expecting. I stifle a laugh as Fred literally throws the underwear over his shoulder.

I work a pillow out from behind me and put it between my head and the wall.

"Go on then," I snicker. "Can't talk if your mouth's full."

"Whatever," he rolls his eyes, and folds his legs under him before leaning down and taking me in nearly all the way. I have to cover my own mouth to keep from swearing loudly. Oh, he's so good at that. My eyes slide shut as Fred works his magical (forgive the pun) tongue over the shaft and around the head. If there's one thing Fred can do, it's give a bloody good blowjob. _Fuck_.

I grip the duvet, mouth open, with my breath coming in shallow bursts as Fred mercilessly works me over. His teeth scrape lightly along the shaft and I nearly come right there, but no, I'm not letting him finish me that fast. Waves of pleasure are surging through me, like a static shock, and _oh, yes, keep doing that._ Over the past year, Fred has paid close attention to the things I like and isn't afraid to use them all at the same time. Now is one of those times; he's got his lips wrapped around the head of my cock as he quietly _hums_ the tune of a song I don't know, and he's got his thumb and index finger stroking in a tight ring at the base.

"F-fuck, Fred, I'm…" That's all I can choke out without crying out. I'm _right there_. I force myself to open my eyes so I can see Fred driving me insane. He has one hand at the base of my cock, and he's stroking himself with the other hand. Then, without warning, he easily slides his mouth down all the way, taking me in to the hilt, and bloody hell, that's it. I come hard down his throat, unable to give him any warning, but he hardly cares, and swallows without a complaint. I bite the back of my hand to muffle the whine of pleasure leaking from my throat. It's a full ten seconds before the aftershocks subside and I can unclench my fists.

As soon as I catch my breath, I full Fred down so that we're pressed perfectly together and crash our lips together. I reach a hand between us so that I can wank him. And here we have a prime example of Fred's inability to stay hushed. Our mouths are sealed together, but he's _moaning_ and _gasping_ and come on! If I get hard again, we'll definitely get caught.

He breaks the kiss and buries his face in my shoulder.

"Oh-oh Merlin… George..f-uck…" I shush him and he bites down on my shoulder, _hard_. I yelp, and pray Kate didn't hear that.

I stroke Fred faster, kissing his neck and letting my other hand drift over his arse.

"George," he gasps, "I'm- I'm-" He tenses up and comes over my fist before he can finish saying it.

When he finally relaxes his muscles, he lazily splays his hand across my chest and pushes himself up.

"Ow, yeah, okay, I can't breathe," I whisper, but giggle all the same.

"Sorry," he moves to my side and collapses. For a few minutes we just lay there together in a post-coital haze.

"It's almost two," I whisper.

"Fuck you."

"Yeah, I know," I chuckle and unceremoniously shove Fred until he's mostly on the floor.

"Yeah, okay, I'm going," he rolls his eyes as he throws on his clothes.

He presses one last kiss to my mouth before peeking out the door to make sure Kate isn't up, and leaves.

**-oOo-**

**Alrighty, there we have it! Chapter three, **_**finally**_**. I hope the smut at the end was worth the stupid wait. Speaking of smut… PLEASE TELL ME HOW I DID. I have never written smut like that before, and I feel like I suck at it. If it is bad, feel free to give me pointers so that I don't suck so bad next time XD**


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